Ansonia Aldermen Urge Budget Passage

(The following is a letter from Ansonia aldermen)

We write to urge the Governor to sign the bi-partisan budget, which was passed with bi-partisan support in the Senate and House on September 15-16 2017. 

Under this bi-partisan budget, in FY2018 the City of Ansonia will receive the same funding in education funding as it did in 2017, which was already anticipated by the City.  However, in FY 2019, Ansonia would receive an additional $2,258,339.00 over 2017 funding.  Ansonia is one of the 30 alliance/priority districts, and yet has been massively underfunded for more than a decade through the current ECS formula, which was found unconstitutional in 2016. 

Under the bi-partisan budget in FY2018, Ansonia will receive approximately an additional $7,488.00 in municipal aid funding over 2017.  However, in FY2019 Ansonia will receive an additional $2,143,171.00 over FY2017.  This increased funding to Ansonia is necessary for our community to continue to ensure and support the health, safety, education and well-being of our community, and our children. 

We wholeheartedly support the steps taken in this bi-partisan budget to restore equity and balance to a broken education funding system.  No budget is perfect but we are encouraged that this bi-partisan budget is a starting point for the renewal of the financial health of the State of Connecticut and a path to sustainable and consistent funding to municipalities such as Ansonia. 

This is a bi-partisan budget is good for our community, good for our schools, and good for Ansonia.  We are asking all the residents of Ansonia to join with us in supporting this budget, and urging our Governor and our elected officials in Hartford to support this budget.  Together we can continue to recharge Ansonia and keep our city moving in the right direction. 

Respectfully,

Lori Vaccaro, 2^nd Ward Alderman,  Martin Dempsey, 4^th Ward Alderman, Joseph A. Jaumann, 5^th Ward Alderman, Patrick Henri, 6^th Ward Alderman, Joshua Shuart, 6^th Ward Alderman, Frank Delibero, 7^th Ward Alderman, David Blackwell, 7^th Ward Alderman